1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique which is effectively applied to a television conference system operating between a multiplicity of locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early television conference systems were primarily used as an expanded version of common television telephone systems which allow a plurality of members meeting at a conference room in each of two locations to hold a conference.
However, it is expected that the advent of smaller and less expensive television conference apparatuses will direct the mainstream toward systems wherein a small number of attendants will hold a television conference between three or more locations by connecting with each other's terminals.
Needless to say, it is expected that when such television conferences become popular, conferences will be held between a multiplicity of locations by connecting terminals from different manufacturers or by connecting new and old terminals of the same manufacturer with each other.
When different types of terminals at a multiplicity of locations are connected to each other as described above, since the transmission level of speech information varies depending on the type of terminal, speech from a terminal having a higher transmission level is delivered to all other terminals in a louder voice, and speech from a terminal having a lower transmission level is delivered to all other terminals in a softer voice. This has resulted in the possibility that the initiative for holding a conference may be determined by the transmission levels of the terminals.
In an early opposed-type television conference system operating between two locations, even if there is a difference in the speech levels of the two terminals, a sense of disorder caused by such can be reduced by adjusting the volume of the speaker outputs. However, in the case of connection between a multiplicity of locations wherein three or more locations are connected, reducing the volume of the speakers to adjust to a louder speech level makes speech from a terminal of a softer speech level indistinct and, conversely, adjusting the volume for a softer speech level excessively increases the volume from a terminal of speech of a louder speech level. This has led to deterioration of speech quality and uncomfortableness.
The present invention has been conceived taking the above-described points into consideration, and there is provided a television conference system in which an action taken at one entity's terminal or at a speech synthesizing terminal allows speech to be produced without causing a sense of disorder regardless of the characteristics of other entity terminals in communication.